YUSUF KANLI
Turkey, EU at crossroads
The foreign ministers of European Union countries are going to meet. The southeastern Mediterranean related tensions, developments related to the Varosha, undertakings of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot governments on Cyprus, and the push by Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration and France for the imposition of sanctions on Turkey are on the agenda. At the last minute, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the problems to be resolved through dialogue, but the situation is bad as the train of the European Union-Turkey relationship has long left the station of trust and is progressing on a course of confrontation. Of course, Turkey is an important country. Turkey is a country that can be both a natural bridge and a buffer for migration paths to Europe from countries in its east, especially for millions of Syrian refugees. It is a very productive market for Europe with its rich resources, significant economic capacity and a lucrative market with a population of 83 million people despite current hardships.
December 09 2020
